DALLAS – When Devils forward Patrik Elias called out several of his teammates for playing as individuals rather than as a team in St. Louis Tuesday night, speculation began immediately about whom the culprits might be.

Marek Zidlicky? Jaromir Jagr? Damien Brunner? Someone else?

“Maybe I was talking about myself,” Elias said with a smile as he spoke Thursday morning.

He wasn’t, of course, and he would not say if he or any other players have addressed the issue of being selfish.

“What goes on in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. What goes on in St. Louis stays in St. Louis, too,” Elias said.

Teammate Ryane Clowe, also outspoken after the 3-0 loss to the Blues, said there was no specific meeting called.

“We said a couple things, but it wasn’t a team meeting,” Clowe noted.

Coach Pete DeBoer said he had no problem with what Elias said in comments to The Star-Ledger.

“I think it’s good. At the same time, I think you saw some frustration there,” DeBoer suggested. “When you reflect back on the game, we played hard and they played very hard. They’re a good team. You have to put it in perspective. Sure, there are always things you can do better. But if we’re not in St. Louis, I think we probably find a way to win that game. You have to give them their due.

“I read Patty’s comments. I think it definitely was the case on our power play. I didn’t see that in our 5-on-5 game. That was the frustration of going 0-for-4 on a night where basically it was a 1-0 game and you have a chance with those power plays to make some hay and get yourself some points. Our power play has been good lately, but it let us down. Go-to guys sometimes in those situations, not out of selfishness, just want to try and help the team and do too much individually. That usually never works.”

Elias claims he was not pointing a finger at specific players, although that may be him having cooled down a day and a half later.

“Not really (calling people out). Not at all. Just generally,” he said. “We were frustrated because we lost. And against a good team with a good system, we still felt like we wanted to get those two points. You move on. We know we have to be better in certain situations if it’s a 5-on-5 or power play. We’ve got to trust and rely more on each other than we do.

“At certain times (some players start playing individually). You look at the other teams and it seems like they move the puck a little bit quicker. They head-man the puck. They don’t try to carry the puck all the way. It’s hard. You can’t do it in this league by yourself. You need the help of everyone around you.”

Elias said he believes the team is capable of securing a playoff spot.

“Yeah. It’s going to happen throughout the season where you’re not going to have great games. Things are going to happen to face adversity,” he said. “Then you’re going to get on a roll individually and as a team. We just have to figure out how to help each other out when things don’t go well maybe. And trust and rely upon each other a little bit more on the ice. When we do that, we can play against anyone.”

Clowe offered his view of the problem.

“I don’t know if we’re playing as individuals. You have to have a little more energy in your game. You have to have a bit of bite,” Clowe said. “It’s not about people running out and fighting. That’s not in some guys’ game. That’s understandable.

“You don’t have to be 6-4, 230 pounds to play a heavy game. You have to be hard on the puck. You have to be hungry. Sometimes you think when you’re not scoring you have to glide through the offensive zone and hope for a bounce. That’s not how it works. You have to work for your chances. Individually we have to look at ourselves and our game.”